Tickell has just taken the helm of the UK's largest children's charity, with an annual turnover of nearly 200m and runs more than 500 projects, and she has spent the last two months visiting services. "It's inspiring and it's all stuff that's come from initiatives of this Government, which is completely to be welcomed. The issue now is to make sure it continues, that it's sustainable and develops into the future," she says.
The Government has set much store on the vital role played by the voluntary sector in the reform of children's services. "They've got the principles right, but it's about pushing them through and making sure they continue to be high on the agenda," continues Tickell.
Ensuring the principles are stuck to when the money gets tighter will be a key issue, she says.
One tension is between the emphasis on local services and the drive for greater efficiency, as seen in Sir Peter Gershon's review of public sector efficiency, part of the Treasury's 2004 spending review.
"The Gershon initiative is about efficiency and no one would argue against the need for this, but at the same time you need to ensure you're continuing to get your quality assurance and not throw the baby out with the bath water," warns Tickell.
Providing services locally and ensuring they're locally accountable is also "absolutely right" but can be "quite expensive", she adds. And the Government must do more to ensure relationships with the voluntary sector are sustainable in the long-term.
Experience as chief executive of Stonham Housing Association, which works with people such as young care leavers and children whose mothers are fleeing domestic violence, has given her valuable insights.
"Certainly from my previous job, which involved a lot of contracting with local government, it was those things that give stability that local government often found hardest to implement. When you explained we needed more than 12- or 24-month funding, they would say, 'of course, but we don't have certainty coming from the Treasury either'," she says.
"If local and central government want what's good from the voluntary sector then they have to understand that these relationships are about consistent partnerships. They have to understand what goes into making quality, long-term partnerships."
This is not just about providing sustainable funding but also about ensuring the relationship is more than a simple contracting one and that it involves the voluntary sector in the planning process.
"You know you've done it when you've cracked the really difficult stuff," says Tickell, who feels this will be the litmus test of whether the reforms of children's services work.
"What the Government has done with early years is truly excellent, it has transformed lives and communities. They just need to ensure that it goes up the age range and is matched by resources."
So Tickell hopes that the forthcoming youth green paper will contain the same amount of energy and creative thinking as Every Child Matters.
And the Government must make sure policies for tackling anti-social behaviour are three-dimensional. Projects that understand the causes of this behaviour, that are geared towards families who are otherwise going to be stigmatised by anti-social behaviour orders, are vital.
Charles Clarke's move to the Home Office from the Department for Education and Skills should help this joined-up working, believes Tickell.
And although she's yet to meet Ruth Kelly, the new education secretary, she's optimistic about the appointment. She laughs: "Young woman, four children, excellent. There's nothing like being a real time consumer. I know, I'm the mother of two teenage boys."
BACKGROUND - Career highlights
- Chief executive of Stonham Housing Association from 1997 to 2004. This included working with young homeless people, care leavers, and mothers fleeing domestic violence with their children
- Chief executive of Phoenix Housing Association from 1992 to 1997
- Social work qualification from Bristol University, 1984 to 1986
- Non-executive board member of the Information Commission from 2003. The commission gave considerable evidence to the Bichard inquiry into the Soham murders.
